Califone

Califone is a Chicago-based experimental rock group active since 1997. It is led by Tim Rutili, the former frontman of Red Red Meat, and includes regular and rotating contributors drawn from Red Red Meat and other Chicago acts such as Tortoise. The group’s current lineup includes Joe Adamik on drums, Jim Becker on banjo and violin, Ben Massarella on percussion, and Tim Rutili on vocals, guitar and keyboards; each member also plays multiple instruments. The broader membership associated with the group also includes Wil Hendricks, Brian Deck and Tim Hurley.

Style and background

The group takes its name from Califone International, a manufacturer of audio equipment commonly used in schools, libraries and businesses. Its sound moves away from the blues-rock base of Red Red Meat and draws more directly on experimental music and early American folk traditions, including material associated with Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. It is described as experimental folk and also sits within experimental rock and post-rock.

Collaborations and related projects

Rutili also works in other projects. In 2002 he records Sharpen Your Teeth with Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock and others under the name Ugly Casanova. Some members also tour with Freakwater and serve as a backing band on the 2005 album Thinking of You. In 2006 Rutili works with Wil Hendricks and Michael Krassner as The Unseen Hand, recording the soundtrack to Rank, a documentary about bullriding.

Other work

Califone also works with animator and musician Brent Green on a series of performance pieces combining animation, live music and spoken word. The group also appears on the soundtrack for Stranger than Fiction.